Trump targets Smithsonian funding for programs with "improper ideology"
President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting funding for programs at the Smithsonian Institution that contain what he characterizes as "divisive, race-centered ideology" in his latest broadside against a liberalism that has critiqued Western culture and values.The president said in the order that there has been a "concerted and widespread" effort over the past decade to rewrite American history by replacing "objective facts" with a "distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth." He said this narrative has cast the "founding principles" of the U.S.in a "negative light.""The Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology," Mr.
Trump said in the order."This shift has promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive." He pointed to a sculpture exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum representing that "[s]ocieties including the United States have used race to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement."The order tasks Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents, with overseeing efforts to "remove improper ideology" from all areas of the institution, including its museums, education and research centers and the National Zoo.It marks Mr.
Trump's latest salvo against cultural pillars of society, such as universities and art, that he sees as out of step with conservative sensibilities.He recently had himself installed as chairman of the John F.
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the aim of overhauling programming, including the annual Kennedy Center Honors awards show.The administration also recently forced Columbia University to make a series of policy changes by threatening the Ivy League school with the loss of several hundred million dollars in federal funding.
The executive order also hints at the return of statues and mo...